SAN FRANCISCO - A new government program in California is now making condoms available to teenagers online, free of charge, and even without parental consent.

 

Terry Madriaga, a mother to children aged 12 to 19, said the program is simply too much, too soon.

 

"Inuudyukan nila yung mga batang gumawa para di na nila kailangang mag-isip, nandyan na. Parang, ang sa akin, huwag naman. Masyado naman nilang inuunahan,” said Madriaga.

 

The mail-to-order condom program is an initiative by the non-profit organization California Health Council, in coordination with the Department of Public Health and is funded by the Centers for Disease Control.

 

Teens aged 12 to 19 can order online at teensource.org and the condoms are delivered by mail to their homes free of charge.

 

The package comes with 10 condoms, lubricant and an educational pamphlet. It can be ordered once a month.

 

Madriaga's only son, 17-year old Jayson, is in high school. He and his girlfriend have been dating for four months.

 

"In our school, honestly, we just get ours for free like at the wellness center or at the nurse’s office. So it's not like a big shock to us. It's like everywhere,” said Jayson.

 

Madriaga's eldest child Angela is a 19-year old college student who is in a long term relationship.

 

"Having that knowledge of like contraception is better than like engaging into something that you know you're not aware of and then next thing you know, you find out you're pregnant, you have STD. But I still believe that abstinence would be a best way to prevent like these kinds of things,” she said.

 

Cristina Sprague, a nurse at the South of Market Health Clinic in San Francisco, said the mail-to-order condom program is a welcome addition in preventing unwanted pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

 

"They will do it anyway right? They will definitely have sex,” said Sprague, “So if they have access to condoms, they will think twice and say, I can get it and use it for protection."